Plant Life

a silent signal of the dawn awake
from root through trunk out branch up foot leg shake
chest raise wings stretch one flap release take flight
unsheathed and slicing through the morning light

what shook this tree, this stoic centerpiece?
the earth beneath? winds howling without cease?
or is a yearning, longing bursting through?
once sprung from soil, but now… now soil won’t do?

but there it still sits, yearning to be freed,
still stuck in its place, longing for release.
oh Earth! such strangling, crippling grasp, such greed!
impeding strides to breach this tacit lease.

Abruptly stopping, stemming futile fight.
A thought in mind, in trunk, at root of plight-
Do not these leaves tug daily and through night?
Is not this oversight a shameful blight?

Ambitious tree, encumbered doubly by
The weight of burden, the burden of weight,
Decides to be deciduous, lets fly
A flood of leaves whose fates now lay in wait.

From shaken upon waking -shaking birds
Before their morning song – to waking not
From sleep but negligence, to hearing words
That reach from core to bark to twig to knot
And resonate through leaf – out stem, down vein;
Release ridiculous dreams, redolent
But hollow, thin facades imposing strain,
to find release, facilitate ascent -

The slowly rising sun soon falls with grace,
The gifts of life conferred, just stay in place.

Urban Village People

There are likely numerous ways to get a free banjo. While not seeming immediately to be a stretch for our songstress due to the ascension to her throne being secured mid-note, her inability to play the banjo beyond a few awkward plucks and a mistimed strum is both reason enough to doubt the necessity of her appropriation and the entire reason she decided upon it as her most important acquisition. Another of her abuses of power resulted in the changing of her official position to ‘Chieftess’, displayed prominently below her name on her identification badge. It had been decided between conceptualization and conception that the child, while created from a genetically altered zygote originating from two organically produced haploid cells, would not be raised by its biological parents. Instead, referring to the old axiom, it was decided that a village would be best suited to the task of raising the child. This village was to be populated by a cosmopolitan array of specialists of varying personalities and temperaments, all well read and expertly specialized. Unfortunately, all of the villagers had grown up and lived in urban stockades or suburban prisons and were unfamiliar with the principles of long overgrown villages which had, apparently, housed such paradigms of developmental methodology; none of the villagers had specialized nor even so much as dabbled in ‘village infant care’. In their absolute ignorance it had been equally unapparent that a village should have a chief as it was that a village-weaned child should have a mother. The villagers had a village, as far as anyone could tell – they simply didn’t know what a village did once they had one.

The urban village was housed in a specialized segment nested atop the larger Institute of Human Development and Advancement which housed resident pediatric specialists, geneticists, physiotherapists, neuroscientists and neurosurgeons, and other assorted Frankensteinian euphemisms which meant that any emergencies would be handled promptly by a team of highly experienced developers and advancers. This is not to say that the child was uncared for as the facility housed a constant nursing staff, but, due to the infrastructure required to bring about the conception of the child and the experimental and uncertain nature of the endeavor, the remainder of the facility’s staff was largely inexperienced with the inevitable result of the successful conclusion of their work, the living. In short, the Institute of Human Advancement and Development developed an advanced human – and didn’t know what to do with it once they had one. Like the builders of the institute itself they had laid the foundation, erected supports, furnished interiors, roofed and weatherproofed, and finally stood staring admiringly at the tangible results of their extensive efforts, allowing their successors to take over.

Their successors, however, did not have a tangible goal to reach. There was a certain particluar looming failure to avoid, certainly, and they were for the most part as efficient in guaranteeing the avoidance of this failure as was possible by carefully avoiding any semblance of physical interference with the subject and leaving his survival in the hands of professional life failure avoidance specialists. Safely secluded from the child there was plenty of activity; be it hypothesizing, monitoring, documenting, or analyzing there was always a healthy hum emanating through the hallways connecting to their tribal work area – all of which amounted essentially to an entire village attempting to figure out how best to fish without ever determining whether there was even any water to fish. As is to be expected from a group of clueless fishermen, there was an overabundance of fish tales and an underabundance of fish. Eventually the soon-to-be Chieftess wandered off on her own, in full view of the others, and splashed her way knee deep into the water, not because she was the best fisherman and not because she thought there were even any fish to catch, but because there were no fish being caught and because there was no water at all, just a child in its youngest stages whose life they were entrusted with… with what she wasn’t quite sure, but it certainly had nothing in common with a fishing lure. Without any clear conception of the village’s intended goals of her own she did not feel it wise or worthwhile to get herself tangled in the others’ tangle of beliefs by attempting to disenchant them of what amounted to be no more than various superstitions and instead decided to use their own willingness to recklessly cast their beliefs upon the latest baseless theory to snag them on the mystery of the befuddling banjo. That the banjo was meaningless and used purely as a diversion would not stop them from eventually figuring out a satisfactory reason for its use, but the banjo seemed to be about as innocuous a diversion as could be devised. The steady flow of indications of the village’s collective cluelessness and inefficiency was deepening the barely viscous pool of ineptitude which would inevitably have to be drained, slowly, behind the Chieftess’ initiative and guidance, if only to keep her job. First, though, the child’s burgeoning thirsts needed to be quenched. While the nursing staff had proved themselves competent, it was unlikely that anyone could prevent immediate organ failure upon the ingestion of pure, unfiltered ineptitude. And so it was that the Chieftess became a surrogate mother, monarch, and musician with a banjo. Always with a banjo.

Songstress’ Curse

Some people sing to sing along, some sing to be loud, some sing to soothe, some sing to smooth their ruffled minds, some sing to impress, some sing to express, and some people, at some specific and somewhat odd moments, sing to make sure that their singing doesn’t make infants smack themselves in the face. Somehow she had found herself in one of these moments. She had chanced into a fine singing voice but, due to the notoriously fickle taste of infants, she didn’t think it would be safe to assume that her son’s sudden strange smack of his own face was something he simply felt independently compelled to do rather than as a reaction to her unrelenting harmonious assault upon his blanket fortified fortress of slumber. He was brave, she had surmised as much from her experiences with him, but she had never seen him take on such a menacing foe as his own punishing palm. Tentatively she began the same song she had sung to her own son, taking care not to overextend her vocal talents or overwhelm the infant’s aural tolerances. Carefully she plodded through verses, floating though each stanza as if on a cloud, drifting ever closer to reverie. As she reached the crescendo, the culmination of her favorite melody’s jubilance and exuberance, her voice latched onto a single, hanging, tangible note, throat resonates, resonates, resonates; she heard something. Twice, now, her singing had inspired a reaction, an audible one, from her audience. This one, though, was awakened not just from a long slumber but also from a long silence. She struggled to regain her senses. She knew she had to do something. Suddenly, she remembered. She stood up, turned around, and was greeted with the faces of coworkers and acquaintances who seemed to expect some embarrassment from her at their existence there at that moment in time. They were obviously oblivious, which wasn’t much of a surprise. They would fill in their own details later, anyways. She walked past them, grabbed something that looked edible, returned, and sat down. As she looked up she saw not quizzical affixion on an invented invader but two eyes resolutely transfixed upon her own, she saw resolute transfixion. She saw resolute transfixion, sure, but what she first noticed were those eyes, eyes seemingly perpetually shrouded in a shadow cast by burly eyebrows set atop a pronounced pair of ridges like sandstone cliffs rising over blue-greenish Ice-nine crystallized tropical seas stuffed with a stifled black hole apiece. Before she could sense it, she was resolutely transfixed. It wasn’t to last. She had work to do; she had to somehow convey ‘resolute conviction’ in her forcibly restricted lexicon and, more than anything, she had to record the action that had not shown up in any of her reports in so long and, indeed, she had trouble remembering how to record.

The sound of ’sound’ being typed innocuously enters the room as five ‘tick’ing sounds in rapid succession amidst a torrent of various ‘click’ing and ‘tick’ing and ‘grind’ing and ‘pound’ing noises all repeating in varying degrees of rapidity. The most immediate uproar to be had from these various mechanizations stemmed from a ‘pound’ing of a ‘finger’. The songstress allowed her typically unrelenting focus to be compromised for the moment in order to join in the customary exchange of sympathies with the injured woman. This unusual behavioral change was of little concern as what she had managed to type up would overshadow any shirked responsibilities and any further work would go unnoticed and unrewarded. The child’s new development would result in dramatic changes in the methodology used to approach the subject. Her prompt and sole report on the matter would be verified by checking the visual and audio records and subsequently rewarded with some sort of windfall while her coworkers would be chastised for their shenanigans and oversight. Of this latter development she was well aware but unconcerned as her coworkers’ potentially unfavorable reactions would have little impact as her direct involvement in the provocation of the child’s utterances would inevitably result in a change of her role and responsibilities, leaving the others behind.

As she pondered the intertwining near futures of the child and hers she couldn’t help wondering how it would affect her own child. With that thought, either to reassure herself that she could keep her priorities in line or as a way of depositing time to be debited from during later absences, she quickly typed up the brief summary report on the morning’s occurrences, sent it to the hands that held her fate, and walked out the door, opening it for herself and leaving without a sound.

Bent Elbow Ballet

‘Arm rotates, lifts, bends slowly at elbow inwards; fingers clamp, slip, slide; hand recoils slightly; fingers open; head tilts, rotates; eyes focus on ends of fingers; fingers close; thumb rubs side to side, stops. Fingers open, arm bends at elbow inwards; fingers clamp, slip, slide. Mouth widens; tongue extends; fingers open; arm bends at elbow inwards; fingers close, not clamp, grasp; mouth closes; lips press fingers. Subject holds position.’

Mouths flap; people stand; arms wave; wrists writhe; fingers dart about, rub temples, run through hair, stroke chins, tap foreheads.

Hand flees temple; thumb closes against index finger; hand opens; fingers straighten;arm bends at elbow slightly, swiftly a short distance; head turns away; eyebrows furl; mouth flaps; torso shakes slightly, briefly. Arms rotate about shoulder; hands grasp; legs extend, straighten; torso tilts forward; torso twists, raises; hips twist; legs walk; arms swing; arm extends; hand grasps, twists; shoulder lowers; torso twists; hand releases, balls into fist; arm bends at elbow, raises, presses against door, thrusts, raises overhead; hand opens.

Quick, short breath exhales through nostrils; eyebrows lift slightly at corners; head shakes; mouth opens; long, slow breath inhales through mouth, exhales quickly, noisily. Fingers dart about; fingers stop; eyes scan; arm lifts, straightens; hand grasps, glides, finger presses, lifts, hand glides, finger presses, lifts, hand glides, finger presses, lifts, hand releases grasp arm bends at elbow fingers dart about fingers dart about fingers dart about; fingers stop, eyes scan, arm lifts, straightens, hand grasps, glides, finger presses, lifts, presses, lifts; arms pull back, rest, rotate about elbows inwards; right hand closes; left hand opens, rests on top of right hand; head turns left; eyes blink; jaw opens slightly; tongue rubs along left-situated teeth, front to back; left thumb rubs underside of right hand; breath exhales through nose, held; jaw closes; normal breathing resumes; arms lift, raise; wrists drop, press hands against stomach, rotate, brush; arms raise, rotate outwards about shoulder; hands clasp; legs extend, straighten; torso tilts forward; torso twists, raises; hips twist; legs walk; arms swing; subject halts; head bows slightly; mouth flaps briefly; legs walk; arms swing.

…

Hand thrusts; wrist twists; hand releases; wrist twists; thumb presses; arm pushes; thumb releases; wrist twists; hand grasps; wrist twists; arm pulls, rotates about shoulder; left leg steps; right arm extends; right hand releases; arm retracts, swings; left hand grasps; left arm rotates about elbow downward swiftly; left hand releases; left arm swings; legs walk. Arms spread; arms collapse, squeeze; lips purse, press, release; arms release; mouth flaps. Legs walk. Subject halts; torso bends; left arm extends; left hand grasps; left arm retracts, holds position; right arm extends; right hand grasps; right arm rotates about shoulder, pulls; right hand releases; right leg steps; left leg steps; torso bends forward; legs bend; subject sits; torso straightens; head tilts downward; right arm rotates inward about elbow; right hand grasps; arms pull outward, downward. Mouth opens; lips float, flitter, carouse, touch, sculpt; left arm rotates inward about elbow; fingers grasp; left arm rotates outward about elbow; fingers release; throat rumbles, trembles, gyrates, dances; right hand grasps, right arm lifts, fingers close, hand grasps, arm extends, fingers open, hand releases, arm pulls inward, upward, downward, across, throat quakes, quarrels, quivers, arm streaks upward downward across upward upward downward across, mouth conforms, conveys, comforts, throat resonates, resonates, resonates; subject halts.

Eyelids lift; right arm shoots skyward; left shoulder lifts; left arm extends, presses downward; mouth opens; left leg lifts, bends; lips curl, crease; mouth opens; throat rattles; head twists, tilts, rotates; mouth widens; arms slowly drop; legs fall, rotate, rest; eyes fixate.

Arms drop; hands clasp; legs extend, straighten; torso tilts forward; torso twists, raises; hips twist; legs walk; arms swing. Subject halts; left arm rotates upward about shoulder; left hand grasps; left arm retracts, holds position; right leg steps; right arm rotates upward about shoulder; right hand grasps; right arm retracts; left arm extends; left hand releases; torso rotates; hips rotate; left arm swings; legs walk. Torso bends forward; legs bend; subject sits; torso straightens; eyes drop; right arm lifts, extends; eyes raise, fixate; subject halts.

Arm raises, rotates inward about elbow; head tilts parallel to arm; arm rotates outward about elbow; head tilts parallel to arm; arm rotates inward slightly, halts; head tilts parallel to arm, halts, tilts forward; arm rotates swiftly about elbow inwards, bounces, rotates inward at elbow and rotates swiftly upward about shoulder; mouth opens; throat quakes violently; eyes squint, tear; leg kicks, retracts, drops.

Lips upturn at corners slightly, slowly, briefly; quick, short breath exhales through nostrils; head shakes slightly, slowly, briefly; slow, long breath inhales through mouth, exhales; right arm extends, slows; wrist rotates outward, upward, inward, downward, outward, upward, inward. Lips upturn at corners slightly, slowly. Subject holds position.

Optimize, Optimize, Cross Fingers

Three feet seven inches tall, scruffy blond hair, genetic code optimized by the thousands of lines, constantly ogled by the thousands of eyes. To call him an experiment is to raise to an absurd height the fumbling process of a ‘typical’ procreation. He is a prototype, but he is also a three foot seven inch tall boy. Optimization has its benefits, though, for certain. He never crawled unless the cieling was low. This came as an unexpected surprise to, well, to all. When a child takes a step before a squirm, he rarely has to raise his voice again in order to be heard. This child, though, had all ears attuned to its utternces before it ever opened its mouth. And that voice! No, it was not the voice of a musical legend in the making, it was a series of squeeks, a series of squeeks pored over, pondered, processed, and deemed excrutiatingly unintelligible for the time being. These were the smartest squeeks sounded in recorded history, of that much everyone seemed to be in unanimous agreement, but no Rosetta Stone could be found. People have looked to the stars for guidance, for inspiration, and simply to see what was in the sky for ages. When a telescope was finally sent to the stars, though, they looked to it to see what it was that they had stared at for thousands of years. The lensed prototype became a lens in itself, a looking glass for guidance, inspiration, answers, and more questions. The most important feature, arguably, was that the data sent from this lensed prototype was easily translated into answers, images, information. Unfortunately, no lense could see far enough into the squeeks uttered by the squeakiest of prototypes to do anyone any good. Whether this prototype’s lenses saw anything, or whether the prototype was lensed at all, was never actually known for certain, but the assumption of worth seemed as useful as doubt, at the time, to most everyone. Assumption always seems to make the waiting more bearable. It’s a damn hard drug to come off of, though. The failure to comprehend the child’s various utterances seemed to be forgiven for a period of time as the assumption of importance held strong and the squeeks merged with grunts and eventually dissolved wholly into silence. This development spurred a slew of theories and suspicions and sessions of blaming and finger pointing and indignant foot slams and sighs of exasperation and grumblings and finally dissolved wholly into silence. Everyone, together, it seemed, had run out of questions. Finally, someone with some experience with silence sent a message that ripped through the public consciousness like a sun through a comet. The activity that had frozen suddenly thawed, melted, exploded into a hyperactive cloud of activity. The message was, if you could guess, a series of gestures. Intelligible gestures, of course. And who better to understand the silence than the deaf? Suddenly a new science of gesturology was spawned and a slew of theories spewed out of every mouth and fell on deaf ears busily listening to their own mouths’ spewings. Eventually, as was to be expected, the shouting subsided and all eyes again turned to listen to the gestures of the only ones who could really be expected to interpret every movement, every twitch, every reach, every grasp, every yawn of the exhaustingly impenetrable infant. I don’t think I need to get into the inevitable sequence of theorizing and shouting and exasperation that followed, but it should be expected by now that no answers were found and again silence became the sound most associated with the inscrutable child. The intermittent silence that had been punctuated by unintelligible squeeks was replaced with a total silence’s intermittent stillness puncuated by unintelligible gestures. And the child played on.